ISpy by Kyle (featuring Lil Yachty) - Songfacts

ISpy
by Kyle (featuring Lil Yachty)

Album: Light of Mine (2016)
Charted: 33 4
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • West Coast rapper Kyle collaborates with Atlanta native Lil Yachty on this fun track with screwball lyrics about positive vibes and living life to the fullest. Kyle commented on Genius:

    "We both have distinct and uplifting voices and overall messages. In my songs I like to say that it's going to be alright. Lil Boat's voice really makes it sounds like everything's going to be okay - it sounds like Bob Ross or something."
  • The song begins with Lil Boat giving Kyle a pep talk to ignore the haters and focus on the good things in life. Kyle said:

    "We both wanted to do a really cinematic intro. Both of us have speaking intros on our mixtapes. I wanted to see us do that together. We just freestyled it - there are actually some funnier takes that didn't get in there."
  • Kyle discusses on the hook his tactics for finding girls on Instagram:

    I spy with my little eye
    A girlie I can get 'cause she don't get too many likes
    A curly-headed cutie I can turn into my wife
    Wait, that means forever, ever, hold up, never mind


    The West Coast rapper explained:

    "You're on the Instagram explore page and you see all these girls—lo and behold they have like 2 millions likes per photo and 100,000 comments. How you think you're gonna slip your comment in there and start hollering?

    The unattainable girls on Instagram are my least favorite, and they have these boosted egos, because they have a bunch of internet stalkers.

    When you see the shawtys on Instagram who are only getting like 200 likes, that's a diamond in the rough. Real talk, that's like a goldmine.

    1,000 to 3,000 likes is okay, but the 200 to 300 to 400 likes area, that's means she's a best kept secret and you don't wanna show any of your friends."
  • The West Coast rapper is the first solo artist named Kyle ever to make the Hot 100 in the chart's history. Other musicians called Kyle include Matchbox Twenty guitarist Kyle Cook, jazz musician Kyle Eastwood, The View vocalist Kyle Falconer, The String Cheese Incident keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth, country music songwriter Kyle Jacobs and Beware of Darkness frontman Kyle Nicolaides.
  • Kyle's first introduction to Lil Yachty came when the Atlanta rapper asked in a tweet who he should have a dance battle with and many replied, "You should battle Kyle."

    "It never happened, but that's how we met and started talking," Kyle told Billboard magazine. "Then, I was making 'iSpy' with [producer] Ayo and we wanted to make something that feels good and is a banger. I FaceTimed [Lil Yachty] and he heard the song and within two seconds was like, 'Yeah I'm down.'"

    "He said he was going to be there in 30 minutes and three hours later he showed up, but it doesn't matter," Kyle added. "He showed up and wrote his verse in a split second and it was flawless."
  • The Colin Tilley-directed video finds Kyle and Lil Yachty morphed into CGI babies hanging out with hot bikini babes at the beach. The West coast rapper is grateful to the director for bringing his seashore concept to fruition. "I told him, 'This song is fun. The video needs to be twice as fun. Let's come up with the scenario that is feel good," he told Fader. "It doesn't get more feel good than being a baby surrounded by incredible looking women at the beach with no cares in the world."

    At one point, Kyle plays a toy piano in front of a gorgeous mermaid who is wagging her fin. The rapper said it had always been his dream to serenade a beautiful mermaid. "When I was a little kid at the beach, I was like, 'This is lit but if I had a mermaid babe with me, life would be ten time as good,'" said Kyle.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

U2

U2Fact or Fiction

How did The Edge get his name? Did they name a song after a Tolkien book? And who is "Angel of Harlem" about?

Dave Alvin - "4th Of July"

Dave Alvin - "4th Of July"They're Playing My Song

When Dave recorded the first version of the song with his group the Blasters, producer Nick Lowe gave him some life-changing advice.

Michael Glabicki of Rusted Root

Michael Glabicki of Rusted RootSongwriter Interviews

Michael tells the story of "Send Me On My Way," and explains why some of the words in the song don't have a literal meaning.

The Punk Photography of Chris Stein

The Punk Photography of Chris SteinSong Writing

Chris Stein of Blondie shares photos and stories from his book about the New York City punk scene.

Ian Gillan of Deep Purple

Ian Gillan of Deep PurpleSongwriter Interviews

Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan explains the "few red lights" in "Smoke On The Water" and talks about songs from their 2020 album Whoosh!

Adele

AdeleFact or Fiction

Despite her reticent personality, Adele's life and music are filled with intrigue. See if you can spot the true tales.